Chapter Two: Responsibility and Proficiency When Carrying a Weapon

Core Halachic Principles

a. There is a mitzvah to ensure strict enforcement of all safety and security guidelines required from a licensed weapon carrier.

b. One should guard their weapon and ensure its maintenance in line with legal requirements.

c. One who harbors a weapon illegally or carries a faulty weapon violates a negative prohibition.

d. There is a mitzvah to install a home safe, however one should not make a blessing on its installment.

e. One is obligated to train regularly, beyond the level of training required by law.

f. It is permissible to pay for training and weapon maintenance from tithe (ma’aser) money. See further, chapter five.

g. Training for Men and Women – see further, chapter three.

Analysis of the Halacha

1.Responsibility and Enforcement of Safety and Security Guidelines

One who carries a weapon is obligated to maintain his weapon according to the requirements determined by the law, ¹ as well as ensure it is up to standard in order to prevent improper use by someone who is not proficient in using it, negligently or intentionally. The halachic basis for preventing danger is a positive commandment and a negative prohibition learned from the halachot of placing a fence around one’s roof: When you build a new house, you shall make a fence around your roof and you will not bring blood in your house, for one will surely fall from it.²

Rabbeinu Bachya explains that this positive commandment is an individual case of a general mitzvah to protect human life:

By simple interpretation, one should be cautious that he keeps man away from danger, like it is written “protect yourself and guard your life carefully” (Devarim 4:9), and therefore [God] commanded that when [a person] builds his house, he should make a fence around his roof and not leave a hazard and obstacle in his property to cause other people to stumble, and he should not bring blood into his house.³

His explanation is based on the words of the Sages, who expanded the mitzvah to a general obligation to remove all obstacles and prevent harm: “and you shall make a fence for your roof” – I only know [this applies to] a roof, from where [do I know] to include pits, cisterns, caverns, gutters and crevices? The Torah says, “and you will not bring blood into your house”. “and you shall make a fence for your roof” – [tells us of] a positive commandment, “and you will not bring blood into your house” – [tells us of] a negative prohibition.⁴

Rebbe Natan says: from where [do we know] that one should not raise an aggressive dog in his home and should not place a shaky ladder within his home? The Torah says “you will not bring blood into your house”.⁵

This is also what the Ranger writes when listing the commandments in his Sefer HaMitzvot,⁶ and this is his ruling in the Mishneh Torah:

There is a positive commandment for man to make a fence for his roof, as it is stated “and you shall make a fence for your roof”

… [this law applies to] a roof and anything that has danger associated with it and could potentially cause someone to stumble and die… and so too for all obstacles that have a risk to life, there is a positive commandment to remove them and protect from them and to be extremely cautious about the matter, as it is stated “protect yourself and guard your life carefully”. And if he did not remove it and left the obstacles that lead to danger, he nullified a positive commandment and violated “you will not bring blood [into your house]”.⁷

The obligation to remove obstacles is both an obligation of the public and of each individual. Every person must examine what things they own that can cause harm and remove them. This is written by the Sefer HaChinuch: And therefore, it is appropriate to pay attention to all matters that can cause someone harm, and one who avoids [addressing] them is liable for rebellious lashes of rabbinic origin.⁸

Rabbi Shmuel Wosner remarks, regarding regulation to prevent traffic accidents, that the obligation to place safety restrictions is on everyone:

And it does not matter if there is dina demalchuta or there isn’t dina demalchuta, for regulation enacted by the government is done for the benefit of the public to prevent disasters, and if it was not done by them, the obligation would be on us to do so.⁹

The right to bear arms is learned from the mitzvot “and protect your life”, “and you will not bring blood into your home”, and “do not stand idly by your friend’s blood” – the goal of carrying a weapon is defense against a potential danger, however these mitzvot themselves obligate responsibility, safe methods of storage, and strict enforcement of all safety and security guidelines.

The Sages bundled together the prohibition to raise an aggressive dog with the prohibition of setting up a shaky ladder, from which we learned the obligation to be cautious when possessing a weapon. It is possible to simulate the complexity of carrying a weapon to the complicated approach of the Sages to possessing a guard dog. On the one hand, having an aggressive dog in the home is prohibited because of the danger it can cause. However, on the other hand, in border settlements, where there is a need for a dog for protection, owning one is permitted¹⁰. In the same manner, a weapon is a dangerous item, however there is no prohibition to carrying it when there is a need. One who carries a weapon is obligated in carrying it and using it cautiously. The halachic obligation is to guard the firearm and ensure its maintenance following the legal protocol.¹¹

One who is careful to follow all safety and security guidelines and one who installs a safe to protect the weapon fulfills, as previously stated, the mitzvah of “protect yourself and guard your life carefully”. We do indeed make a blessing on establishing a fence around a roof; however, no blessing was formulated for protection from other dangers.¹²

2.Proficiency and Training

2.1 The Obligation to Train Regularly

Use of a firearm requires expertise, involving theory, methodology and assessment through training. Inexperienced use can be dangerous for the person themselves and for others and has elements of the Talmudic classification of a ‘reckless human’ (adam hamezik). The Mishnah establishes a fundamental principle in tort law that a person is assumed to be dangerous at all times:

Man is considered dangerous (mu’ad) at all times, whether negligently or intentionally, awake or asleep. If he blinded his friend’s eye or broke his utensils, he pays full reparations.¹³

The Tosafists teach us that the obligation to be careful not to harm others is greater than the obligation to ensure that harm does not befall oneself:

And it seems from here that we can be precise [in determining] that one should be careful not to harm others himself more than not to be harmed.¹⁴

From the words of the Rambam regarding the matter of a mistake by an inexperienced judge, one can learn that anyone who acts negligently carries tremendous responsibility for their actions: But one who is not an expert and was not accepted by the litigants, even if he received permission [to act as a judge], he is considered as one of the men of force and not one of the judges… and if he made a mistake and granted [property] to the liable [party], he must pay from his own property and return to this litigant that he gave [money] to improperly, and if [the recipient] cannot return [the money] to him or [the judge] rendered [the item] impure or he fed a permissible item to the dogs, [the judge] must pay in the manner of all who cause harm for this [person] intended to cause damage.¹⁵

One who acts negligently, according to the Rambam, is considered as if they intended to cause harm.¹⁶

One who carries a weapon must train periodically ¹⁷. It seems axiomatic that proficient use of a weapon is the collective result of regular training. A personwho trains constantly will increase their understanding and control over the weapon, the proper safety guidelines, and the ability to recognize danger, and their capacity to act correctly in real time will increase, lowering the risk of catastrophe ¹⁸. The law requires weapons carriers to undergo periodical training to maintain proficiency, however these training sessions are the minimal standard for weapon proficiency, for increasing the amount of training improves expertise using a firearm and prevents accidents of which some cannot be rectified. Therefore, it is the duty of the weapon carrier to train even beyond the legal requirement to prevent harming oneself and others. Since weapons training is for the sake of a mitzvah, one may dedicate a portion of their charity tithes (ma’aser kesafim) for this purpose. See further regarding this in chapter 5.

2.2 Weapons Training in Tanach

There is a source for the importance of weapon proficiency in the Talmud, based upon verses in Tanach. In his lamentation for Shaul and Yehonatan, King David laments:

And David composed this lamentation for Shaul and for Yehonatan his son. And he instructed to teach the people of Yehuda the bow, behold it is written in the Sefer Yashar¹⁹

The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zara explains that David concluded from the deaths of Shaul and Yehonatan that he must ‘teach the people of Yehuda the bow” – i.e. archery, and he says that this has already been written down in the Sefer HaYashar:

It is written, “And he instructed to teach the people of Yehuda the bow, behold it is written in the Sefer Yashar”, what is the Sefer HaYashar? Rebbe Chiya Bar Abba says in the name of Rebbe Yochanan: this is the book of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, who are called just (yesharim), as it is written regarding them, “may my soul die the death of the just and may my end be like them”, and where is the inference? “Yehuda, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand is on the nape of your enemies” (Bereishit 49:8), and which warfare requires one’s hand on the nape? I will say archery. Rebbe Elazar says: this is the Sefer Mishneh Torah (I.e. Devarim), and why is it referred to as Sefer HaYashar? For it is written “and you shall do what is just and good in the eyes of God” (Devarim 6:18). And where is this inferred? “His hands are mightier than him”, and which warfare requires two hands? I will say archery. Rebbe Shmuel Bar Nachmani says: this is the book of Shoftim…²⁰

One can interpret that King David understood that the deaths of Shaul and Yehonatan could have been prevented had the Jewish soldiers been more proficient and experienced with the use of a bow. In other words, King David laments that their deaths stemmed from lack of proficiency, training, and preparedness.²¹ David also teaches that this is not only his professional insight as a warrior, but that this is already hinted to in the Torah or the prophets – Sefer HaYashar, according to each of the opinions in the discussion. Therefore, one should train and be prepared for the next conflict. Based on the Rambam’s principle that there is no story in scripture that is for naught,²² the Tzitz Eliezer concludes the following from David’s lamentation:

From that which is stated in David’s lamentation and from that which is explained in the Gemara in Avodah Zara, it is learned that the nation’s leaders have a responsibility to train from amongst the nation an army and for warfare, to be ready at any time to wage a raging war on an enemy that arises whenever it may against the nation or shall limit its movement in any manner… Shaul and Yehonatan strived to establish and train an army brigade of sword-wielding heroes studious in battle… with their death, David arises in his lamentation to the loss of these defenders of Israel and awakens the nation to recover and train in the warfare of archery, which required study.²³

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